Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of the increase in rateable values of premises that do not fall under the £12,000 threshold on (a) riding schools and (b) other businesses.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The business rates revaluation is undertaken independently of Ministers by the Valuation Office Agency. Information on changes in rateable values at the revaluation has been published by the Valuation Office Agency. We have put in place a £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme for England to ensure that no ratepayer is unfairly penalised by the 2017 revaluation.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the staff time of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council involved in setting up the combined authority.
Answered by Andrew Percy
We have made no such estimates. Whether, and how, councils approach setting up a combined authority is wholly a local matter for them. Creation of combined authorities is central to devolving power to local communities to ensure decisions are made locally.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many buildings owned by his Department have been sold in each year since 2010.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department’s estate largely consists of leasehold properties. Since 2010 the Department has surrendered the following leasehold facilities, reducing the annual cost of the civil estate by around £38.5 million:
Building surrendered | Location |
Cunard | Liverpool |
Belgrave Centre | Nottingham |
Sheffield House | Stevenage |
Mast House | Plymouth |
Riverwalk | London |
Westbrook | Cambridge |
City Tower | Manchester |
Lysnoweth | Truro |
Piccadilly Gate | Manchester |
Bridge House | Guildford |
Queen Street | Leeds |
Eland House | London |
The move of my Department's main building from Eland House to Marsham Street, to share with the Home Office, will reduce our Department's running costs by £9 million a year from 2015-16, and save taxpayers a total of £220 million over the lifetime of the building's lease commitments.
The table below indicates the number of buildings sold in each calendar year:
Calendar Year | Buildings sold |
2010 | Nil |
2011 | Nil |
2012 | Nil |
2013 | 34 |
2014 | 23 |
The Department did hold one freehold land asset, the Fire Service College which has now been sold. In March 2013, the sale of the 365 acre Fire Service College estate, comprising 34 buildings, other non-habitable structures and land was sold for £10 million. The land was covered by an overage clause meaning the Department will share in any profits from future development of the College site. In addition this has generated savings of £3.9 million in running costs per year.
Following the College sale the Department is currently disposing of 33 houses in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, which were formerly part of the Fire Service College but were not sold with the main Fire Service College estate. So far this year 23 of these houses have been sold generating a receipt of £5,163,100, and a further 2 houses are under offer. The market value of the properties upon which sales have been agreed range from £215,000 to £250,000 and the total expected income from the sale of the 33 houses and linked development land is around £7,500,000.
The Department holds 10 remaining residential houses at the site, which will be sold during 2015/2016.